Scottish Cup: Inverness boss John Hughes warns players they could come back to earth with a bump after League Cup semi joy

ICT boss Hughes wants his side to be lifting Cups rather than him, as he looks to today's Scottish Cup game at Stranraer (Image: SNS Group)

Share

Get daily updates directly to your inbox

Thank you for subscribing!

Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email

JOHN HUGHES sees no reason why Inverness should settle for just one big day in the sun before the summer holidays.

The Caley Thistle boss will have his jubilant League Cup semi-finalists on high alert against minnows Stranraer this afternoon.

Delirious celebrations followed the nine-man penalty-kicks victory over Hearts last Sunday.

But they were in sharp for training on Tuesday morning.

And Hughes said: “I’ve not given them a day off.

“That was for one reason and one reason alone – we want to try to get through to the final of the Scottish Cup.

“Getting to the final of one cup gives us the confidence and momentum to go and do that.

“With a bit of luck in the draw – if we can get through against Stranraer – hopefully that can be the case.

“But the players have been well-warned. Football has a funny habit of bringing you crashing back to earth when you are on cloud nine.

“We absolutely know it could happen to us if we don’t have 100 per cent concentration and go into the game with a thoroughly professional attitude.

“We’ve highlighted that Stranraer beat Ross County earlier this season and we’ve spoken to the players about just what they will encounter down there. Even if it’s a poor game and we win 1-0 I’ll take it.

“Then we’ll rest the players up for a month of Saturday-Tuesday games.

“We have to take care of business, simple as that.”

The spectre of a shock exit deflating their celebratory mood so soon after last week’s historic victory looms large in Hughes’ mind.

He said: “We would be going from hero to zero if we faltered – and we are guarded against that.

“I know the characters we have in the dressing room.

“I asked my assistant Russell Latapy what his mindset would be if he was a player and had a cup final coming up in a month’s time.

“He said he would want to be man-of-the-match in the next four games, knowing he had to be sure of getting into that starting 11.

“But this will be an entirely different proposition to last weekend.

“We’re not going to Easter Road to play in front of 12,000 people, we are going to Stranraer to play in front of 3000, if that.

“We’ve painted the picture for the players to give me 11 man-of-the-match performances and stay in the team.”

Hughes – boosted by the return of captain Richie Foran – has had his man management skills tested to the full this week.

A near tee-totaller himself, Yogi allowed the squad a big party with supporters back in Inverness after the match before carefully refocusing minds through the rest of the week.

He said: “There is no embarrassment in saying they enjoyed themselves after the victory – they did it with my full blessing.

“The players were magnificent in training on Tuesday and Wednesday, possibly helped by the adrenalin from the League Cup semi-final.

“But we sensed a bit of fatigue in them later in the week and knowing the programme we have coming up, we reshuffled our plans.

“We have had Stranraer watched twice and we know you’ll get a bit of everything from them– they will pass it when they have to.

“They have five or six good senior professionals as well as a bit of youth and physical presence.

“Between their two strikers they have scored more than 40 goals so we’re well-warned.”

Hard work is the key to Cup success, says Inverness midfielder James Vincent

THE fear of going from heroes to zeros will make sure Inverness don’t suffer any slip-ups on their 500-mile trip to Stranraer and back.

That’s the view of midfielder James Vincent who helped the Highland club to their first major final by beating Hearts at Easter Road last week. Vincent – back in the team after four months of injury frustration– knows the League Cup semi-final triumph must be forgotten about for now.

The 24-year-old said: “Stranraer are a good side and we are not going into the match thinking we are favourites. We have to put in the hard work and earn the right to play.

“We have all said we have to put the Hearts game out of our minds. It was brilliant while it lasted but we have to focus on Stranraer now.

“Our preparation has been top notch, we won’t have any excuses in that department.”